Tess was my nurse during one of the most painful and frightening experiences of my life. I came to University Hospital and was diagnosed with pancreatitis. The pain was unbearable. By the time I met Tess that first night, I had been suffering for days. I was exhausted, hurting, and honestly not myself.

It’s hard to admit, but I was rude and impatient with her. I was overwhelmed and frustrated, and I took it out on the very person trying to help me. I even asked for a different nurse.

They honored my request for the night, but Tess still had to come in to draw my labs and give a report to the next nurse. Even then, after how I had acted, she treated me with nothing but kindness, respect, and professionalism.

The next night, Tess was assigned to me again. I was dreading the embarrassment of facing her, not because she had done anything wrong, but because I knew I had. Yet when she walked into the room, she wasn’t bitter or distant. She wasn’t cold or passive. She was warm, caring, and genuinely attentive.

She made sure my mom and my guest were comfortable, even bringing my mother dinner so she wouldn’t go hungry. Her kindness, her servant’s heart, humbled me. It made me deeply regret how I had treated her before.

I apologized, and she forgave me instantly, telling me she understood the pain I was in and held no hard feelings.

I’ve always been scared of hospitals, and when I was told I needed my gallbladder removed, I completely broke down. Tess stayed with me through those moments of fear. She comforted me, calmed me, and truly helped me prepare emotionally for my surgery.

Right before I was taken back, even though she was pressed for time, she hugged me and prayed for me. In that moment, I felt a peace I didn’t think was possible. I genuinely believed I might not make it, but Tess made me feel safe.

I never understood the depth of what nurses do until I met her. Her compassion, patience, strength, and heart; she is everything a nurse should be.

Tess is a remarkable human being and the definition of what it means to care for someone not just medically, but emotionally and spiritually. She changed my experience, and honestly, she changed me. I will never forget her.